Sayonara no Natsu
by mandyraz
Summary: Takao never thought one day he'd be suddenly packing up and leaving Japan with little more than the contents of a backpack, a memorized phone number, and no directions whatsoever. MidoTaka, (guess you could call it a) songfic, drabble style, OC involvement, slight Angst, rated M for lemon in one chapter.
1. Sayonara no Kiteki

**((A.N.: **Personally I haven't actually watched Ghibli's Kokuriko Zaka Kara, so I have no idea what that story is about. Written below is just what appeared in my mind when I heard the beautiful, beautiful theme song that I have absolutely no ownership of. _Dialogue in Italics are spoken in Spanish_, 'cause even after taking classes and self-studying, I can't speak it myself haha~ Chapters are short, but updates will be fast.**))**

Takao stepped off the small boat, looking around himself as he shrugged his backpack a little higher up on his shoulder. The ocean breeze smelled fresh of sea salt, and whipped slightly overgrown black hair in his face. Pinching a wisp of it, he started wondering if he ought to get a haircut.

"_Say, where's the nearest place with a pub or something?_" He began, turning to a fisherman fixing his net nearby on the dock. The man looked up at him, squinting from the sun, and after a moment of consideration, turned towards an area, slightly uphill, where there seemed to be visibly more hustling and bustling.

Takao's gaze followed the man's arm as he pointed towards the town. "_Around about there, just go uphill towards the town centre and look for the first green house._"

"_Hmm... Alright, thanks._" He mused, shifting his backpack again and preparing to head off, when the man spoke up again.

"_Where're you from though? Not Spanish are you._"

Takao chuckled; he'd heard the same question time and time during his long voyage. "_Of course not, I'm from Japan._"

"_Oh, I know Japan, Toyota?_" They both laughed as Takao gave his thanks, and headed towards the more densely populated parts of the town.

After all his travelling, the slight climb uphill was nothing. Making his way through townsfolk, Takao noticed they seemed to be surprised he wasn't looking around helplessly with a map in hand and camera around his neck. He started recalling the directions he'd just gotten from the fisherman; a green house huh, he mused. It'd frankly be funny as hell if he finally found Midorima there.

But, it was good that he managed to arrive at the docks before sundown; arriving after dark usually meant lodging would be harder to find, not to mention he wouldn't really want to search around town in darkness.

A little bonus however, was the amazing scenery that Takao got, simply by looking back at the docks from his vantage point. Mediterranean style architecture had always managed to captivate him; probably because Takao knew very clearly what he liked and wanted.

Midorima was definitely on the top of that list.


	2. Natsu iro no Kaze

**((A.N.:** Hope you enjoyed that little prologue hehe. There's a bit more light shed onto the actual plot now so stay tuned, reviews welcome~**))**

He gently pushed open the door of what looked and sounded like a pub, a green house just like the old fisherman had said. He walked in, responding to stares with a friendly smile and slight wave while he made his way to the bar. "What can I get you?" The madam of the house stepped out wiping a glass, attempting conversation with the first language that came to mind when dealing with a foreigner.

"_I don't speak English, thanks though._" He responded with a smile, earning himself an impressed smile and a drink on the house. "_Say, is there anywhere near here I can find a job? Any kind of job, and some place to stay, if you don't mind._"

She set the glass down and picked up another. "_There's a notice board over there. Lodging I'm not too sure if you're staying for long. But if you want a job, we can use another hand here._"

He'd found work like this plenty times before and had a pretty good idea of what he needed to do. Working in a pub worked the best for him though; it was a swarm of people coming in and out, which of course meant exchange of information, serving his purpose perfectly.

Picking up his backpack again, he turned towards the notice board. "_Sounds perfect, I'll take it._"

With a little more asking around and negotiating, Takao found himself a room with an amazing view that the locals seemed too used to to even bother capitalizing on. It was perfect, the lights started to go out just as he settled down in his new room that would probably be his nest for the following month or two.

One thing worried him though, as he arranged his few belongings around the room. Even with him hanging around town a good part of the evening, no one had mentioned another Japanese guy. Concern bubbled into his consciousness as he lay down to sleep, listening to the sounds of the sea.

When he seriously thought back to the He wasn't even sure that Midorima was in Spain. It had been like looking for a needle in a haystack ever since the enigmatic man had disappeared without a word four years ago. He did feel stupid time to time, he did feel his decision to pack up and leave Japan for Spain had been rash and impulsive. He did feel that perhaps, just perhaps, Midorima had simply moved to elsewhere in Japan to build a normal family and enjoy a normal life.

All those bitter thoughts however, without fail, were offset by the slight possibility that somewhere Midorima was still playing the tsundere; still waiting for his partner to come find him.

"Heh... Shin chan you idiot..." Those rather troubling thoughts in mind, he settled down to sleep, knowing the next morning would mean a lot of excitement.


	3. Melody

**((A.N.:** Just to mention cause some people mind, before you proceed there's a non-romantic interest OC introduced here, she was created just for the purpose of this fic and is necessary to the plot so, please don't bite me haha~**))**

Just as he'd expected, and experienced before, the first day of working in the bar was just as busy and occupying as he'd thought. But it was the ideal job for his purposes. He was social by nature, didn't mind the hard work, (understudying Miyaji did things to people) and the pub was pretty much the one information hub around the area.

Still no talk of another Japanese person, but Takao dismissed it pretty much. By this time if no mentions had been made, it was safe enough to assume that Midorima wasn't in these parts of the country.

However, there was no reason for him to skip town immediately; no harm in making more money to travel around with a bit more comfortably. More importantly though, Takao thought as he heaved out a crate of beer, it was a breathtakingly beautiful place. He'd been traveling for some time already, and had been to a good number of cities and towns, but the more he looked around himself the more he was certain that this was going into his list of favorites.

He gave a chuckle, wiping sweat from his brow. He was pretty sure within these four years, he'd traveled around Spain even more than he did his entire life around his home country. But, in truth, that wasn't too difficult to comprehend. He'd been following a standard template of life while living in Japan. Once he'd taken things into his own hands, nothing was the same anymore. No more waking up and putting on a student's uniform, no more basketball practice, no more barking instructions on the court in Japanese, no more biking to Midorima's place to pick the boy up and go lucky item hunting...

With time, he came to realize that dreadful task was something he actually missed.

He often wondered how Midorima managed to gather his lucky items in another country, so many things in Japan could only be accessed from a local IP address. Surely there wasn't any radio station with Oha-Asa in Spain? At any rate Takao wasn't about to admit he'd actually tried.

"_Hey, new guy!_" Takao spun around after setting down a crate of bottles and turned back into the pub.

"_Yeah?_" The owner of the pub came into view, her hand on the shoulder of a small child who looked to be around 5 or 6 years old. Takao covertly raised an eyebrow; there wasn't much resemblance.

Nevertheless, he huddled over, scooting around the bar and several crates lying around."_Get this kid something to eat, there's bread and cheese in the back._" She said, gesturing towards the kitchen, after which immediately turning back to tend to customers.

Giving little more than a shrug at the odd request,Takao offered the child his hand.

"_Hey there, you a girl or a boy?_"

"_Girl._" She whispered, head down and staring at her bare feet.

"_Alright, come with me._" She sheepishly took his hand, following him back towards the kitchen.


	4. Kamome

Takao managed to get a small piece of cheese and a chunk of bread for the girl, but he soon came to notice that while she was eating, the entire time she kept on staring at him like he had a visible growth on his face.

"..._ You want some water or something?_" He laughed, long since accustomed to dealing with all kinds of people staring at him. It happened quite often enough, perhaps not surprisingly.

"_No... Thank you._" Despite her politeness, her eyes were still intently focused on him.

"_Yeah, I'm not from around here. I'm from a very very far away place._" She merely nodded, taking slow bites out of her bread and turning her eyes away from Takao. He heaved a sigh, watching her eat slowly and scuffing his shoe against the floor.

With his head lowered, his bangs refused to stay back up anymore and flopped over his face. Pinching a wisp with a sigh, he figured he really ought to cut it like he'd told himself the previous day.

"_I've seen someone like you before._"

The wisp of black hair slipped out between his fingers as he turned to the girl, spluttering. "_Really!? Where? I mean, when? What did he look like?_" He slowed down when she gave him a shocked look and leaned slightly further away. "_Ah, sorry sorry... Don't be scared. I uhh... Where did you see the person?_"

She stared at him for another second or two before turning back to her food again. "_I can't remember, I was small._"

"_Do you remember what the person looked like? Was it a man or a woman?_"

She hesitated, scrunching up her brows in her efforts to recall. "_A man, I think. But he looked pretty, like you. I used to see him a lot._"

Takao had focused all his attention on the girl, only then reminding himself to calm down. It didn't mean the person had to be Midorima, what were the chances that a person who simply looked Asian like him would turn out to be the one he'd been searching for? He shook his head and dragged a hand over his face, drawing a deep breath after.

She patted the crumbs off her hands and turned to Takao again. "_Thank you. I can go back by myself._"

"_Huh?_"

"_Nita, let him send you there it's not safe._" Came the familiar voice of the bar owner as she stepped into the kitchen. She leaned closer to Takao however and added in a whisper. "_Gotta make sure she doesn't run away from the orphanage again._"

"_I... I see._" It didn't shock him too much, with time he'd gotten used to seeing things like that here and there. That settled he reached out for the girl to take his hand again. "_Nita was it? Come on. I'll send you back._"


	5. Aeru kashira

**((A.N.:** LEMON WARNING. That is all.**))**

_Takao could hear his own raspy panting as Midorima bucked against him from behind, hard and fast, just the way he liked it. They'd been together since highschool after all, and now that Midorima had graduated from Medical school, it seemed as if their life together was just going to truly begin. Pianist fingers reached around Takao's heated body and wrapped around his shaft, drawing a gasp from the shorter man._

_Midorima pulled his partner closer still to him, a head of green hair resting on Takao's shoulder. "Kazunari... I'm almost... Ngh..." He gingerly bit down on tanned skin, well away from his neck; he knew better than to leave visible marks on a working man after all. The pace of his thrusts in time with his hand, he brought both of them to a shuddering climax as Takao turned back and captured his lips._

_"Nnh... Shin chan... I love you Shin chan..."_

_He felt a faint bite against his lower lip. "Be quiet Kazunari..."_

_With time, Takao had come to realize that Midorima was, perhaps by a sense of obligation, a very caring lover, especially after sex. Having been cleaned up like a doll, he lay down to sleep with Midorima laid next to him. It was odd to say that the other man looked almost femininely beautiful, what with the pale light falling on his face and bare shoulder._

_"Hey, Shin chan." The tall man opened his eyes, long lashes casting a shadow on his cheek. He gave a grunt for Takao to continue. "Hey... If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go?"_

_Midorima gave a sigh, he knew what Takao was hitting at. They weren't exactly accepted by their parents, on either side, after all. Takao wasn't alone in thinking of possibilities overseas though, he didn't want to admit it, but he'd already done considerable research himself._

_"... Spain." He muttered after awhile, hoping silently that Takao would leave it at that instead of forcing him to admit things he didn't want to say._

_"Heeh. You like Spain?"_

_"... Somewhat."_

_There was silence for a moment, save the rustling of fabric against skin when Takao inched himself a little closer to Midorima, burying his face in a broad chest. "Why Spain though."_

_"It's nice, and... Well..." He stopped just short of letting loose, there was no way Takao would let him hear the end of it, not to mention it was just far too embarrassing for him to admit it willingly._

_Luckily for Takao though, he knew just the way to coax Midorima into talking. "And?" The raven-haired man smirked, propping himself back up on his elbows and throwing his partner a seductive lidded gaze. "Come on Shin chan, tell me."_

_"Marriage between individuals of the same gender is permitted in Spain."_

_He'd tried to make it sound as factual and impartial as he could, but despite the technical talk, Takao looked right through him, and something Midorima never thought he'd ever see happened right before his eyes._

_Takao actually looked embarrassed. Hell, he was stuttering and covering his face with his hands, prompting Midorima to quickly gather the smaller man into his arms._

_"Damnit Shin chan... You're too good..."_


	6. Uminari mitai ni

Those few nights he couldn't help but get his hopes up about Midorima actually living somewhere nearby. During his off hours he'd sometimes end up walking around outside the orphanage, but never really managed to see Nita again. Asking around didn't really help either, people either didn't know about Nita at all, or had no idea who the person she was talking about was. The siesta hours and short working time that usually were a good thing for Takao suddenly turned irritating; he couldn't think of anything else but the "what ifs".

It was with similarly distracted thoughts that he roughly cut his hair in front of the mirror in his room. Before he even realized how distracted he was, he felt a sharp pain on his finger and looked down to the sight of crimson running down his palm. Quick search for band-aids in his bag proved fruitless. Upon leaving the room however, his landlady caught sight of him and made a colossal fuss, immediately shoving him in the direction of the local clinic.

After all the trouble, a rinse and a quick band-aid was all it took. But for that one silly moment, looking at the band-aid around his finger reminded him so vividly of the meticulous bandaging around Midorima's fingers.

"_What's wrong? Is it still hurting?_" The wrinkled old man muttered while putting his things away and gesturing for the next patient to come in.

"_Nah, this is fine. Thanks._"

So many little quirks that Takao could never forget started surfacing, and he headed out the clinic door, waving to the next patient as they passed.

There was a gentle smile on his face as he walked back to his room, allowing himself to slowly recollect all the details he could remember about the person he was relentlessly searching for.

Without explanation, he found himself standing in front of the orphanage again with a half-done haircut instead of back in his room. When asking for Nita however, the owner, an aging old woman, heaved a sigh and broke into long ramblings on how impossible it was to control that child. Upon hearing more complaints, he realized the orphanage was probably the place where he was least likely to see her.

Just as they spoke, a woman came up to them and behind her was the girl Takao had been hoping to see. She seemed to recognize him, as was apparent from the stare that she immediately pinned back onto the foreign looking man. He merely gave a smile and ruffled her soft hair. "_Hey Nita, can I talk to you for a bit?_"


	7. Natsu iro no Yume

Takao handed the small girl a bottle of juice after they'd taken a short walk to a nearby slope. He sat himself down in the lazy siesta hours, a little smile appearing on his face as the girl happily took a sip.

"_Say, Nita._" He began, but she was smarter than he had thought; something that always amazed him about children.

"_You want to know about the person who looks like you?_" She mumbled, turning to her lap when Takao nodded in response. "_I... Really can't remember._"

"_Can't remember anything? Where you saw him, when, what happened when you saw him?_" He knew he sounded desperate, but it couldn't really be helped; this was the purpose of his travels after all. He had brought a photo of Midorima along with him, but after numerous times of being pick-pocketed or robbed it simply got lost somewhere.

Nita shook her head, "_Nothing. It was very confusing, I know I've seen him more than once, but every time I barely see him..._"

It was all clear as mud, and Takao simply heaved a sigh before shifting a hand to gently tussle the hair on top of the girl's head.

"_Did he wear glasses?_"

"_Yeah._"

Good going, Takao thought to himself bitterly. A bespectacled Asian, surely there wouldn't be anyone other than Midorima like that. Nothing showed on his face though, and soon enough the girl had finished her drink.

"_Why do you keep running away?_" He didn't really know why he'd asked, probably just out of plain curiosity, probably because he was toying with the notion of talking her out of her escapades.

She tapped against the empty glass bottle with her stubby fingernails. "_I don't like it there. _"

"_Huh..._" Takao mused, gazing at a small group of fishing boats somewhere out. "_Why not? It's better than having nowhere to go at all._"

"_People there don't like me._" She added, seemingly with difficulty. "_They say I'm sick._"

"_You don't look sick to me._" He sighed, reaching out a hand to gently pat the top of her head, finally coaxing a smile from the girl as she giggled and turned to look up at him.

"_Your hair looks weird._"

"_Huh?... Aaah!_"


	8. Diary

**((A.N.:** Yay for flashbacks~**))**

_"Kazunari, come here, we need to talk." The moment Takao got home from work, he heard a familiar voice coming from the living room. Rather surprised to see both his parents sitting there instead of being in bed, he set his bag down against the sofa and took a seat. _

_Somehow he had a pretty good idea of what his parents were about to address; it had been barely a week since Midorima came out to his family after all. His father fixed a stern stare on him while his mother avoided eye contact entirely. Not exactly encouraging. "So... I hear from Midorima-san that you've been keeping something from us."_

_Takao drew in a deep breath; he'd known all along that someday it'd come to this, but with each day passing safely, he'd simply let it sink to the back of his head. For a moment he spitefully reprimanded his last minute decision to come back to his parents' home for the weekend; all of this could have been avoided if he'd just stayed at Shin chan's apartment. "Well... It sounds like you know already, right? Shin chan and I are..."_

_"Kazunari! We won't approve of this!" His father got to his feet, the additional height helping him tower over his son, who was suddenly tense to the point of cold sweat. "We've found a girl for you, and you will be meeting her next week." He then added, slapping down a photo onto the tea table in front of them._

_"Dad! You can't just..." Takao was just about to get to his feet when his father jabbed a finger on his chest, forcing him back down again._

_"I won't hear of it, any of it." His father growled as multiple worst case scenarios flashed through his mind. "You're going to marry this girl, and Midorima-san is going to find a woman for their son as well."_

_"Dad, that's unreasonable! Can't you just lis-"_

_Takao's mother let out a waterlogged gasp as a tight slap whipped across the side of the boy's face, his black hair covering his eyes as he raised a hand to his face in shock._

_His father seemed to have more to say, but nothing came from his thin, taught lips aside from a simple instruction. "Give me your phone."_

_Takao dug the phone out of his pocket and handed it over obediently, head still slightly dizzy and his cheeks burning._

_"Go to your room. We've taken away your computer, and you're not going to leave this house until Midorima-san gets their son out of his apartment."_

_Takao stayed where he was, just a second, running all the possible retorts and calm arguments through his mind; none of them seemed to be appropriate to deal with his furious father. He collected his bag, heading quietly to his room. The moment the room door swung shut, he could hear the sound of something smashing on the floor, and his mother's frantic voice trying to calm her husband._

_If only he'd stayed at Shin chan's place that night._


	9. Kobune

Takao gave a quick glance at the calendar hanging near a shelf of bottles behind the bar. It was about time. Around the end of the first week of every month, he'd made it a point to make a phone call back to Japan. The number had long since been imprinted in his memory, and repeating it in his mind, he headed to the nearby public phone.

The usual steps were followed, and after awhile Takao heard the gratifying click of someone picking up the other end.

"Midorima residence."

He could almost hear her voice warmly inviting him to their home; but that had been before Midorima came out to his parents, after which he was about as welcome as the plague. "Hi auntie. Is Shintaro at home?"

He heard a sigh, and Midorima's mother didn't need to speak for him to know what she was about to say. "He's not back yet. You haven't found him either?"

"Nope. Not yet."

There was a few seconds of silence, neither of them really knowing what to say. Soon enough though he heard a faint shuffling sound, soon followed by a sniffle.

"I'll let your family know you called."

"Thanks auntie."

He hung up the phone, hurriedly stepping out for the next person in line to make his call. At first they had outright refused to take his calls, or hung up once they picked up and realized it was him. But judging from the gradual acceptance, it wasn't difficult to figure that they were beginning to view him as their only hope; most likely, Midorima hadn't contacted his family at all.

Just as he was making his way back to the pub though, he saw a familiar figure standing behind a tree some distance away.

Well, once hawk eyes, always hawk eyes. With a sigh, he reached out his hand, prompting her to shrink behind the tree even further.

She almost reminded him of Midorima, always backing away like that and hiding instead of reaching out. Luckily, he was still an expert at getting Midorima to open up to him. "_Nita, come on I'll get you a soda._"

With that, her lips slowly curved into a grin and she ran up to him, taking his outstretched hand.


End file.
